first of all, i am famously a terrible looser. this may just come across as me bitching but i think i have some valid points.

i am just a lowly gamer with no knowledge of how to legitimately balance a competitive shooter but i have to say i really dislike some of the insta-kill options you have in the last of us, specifically the Molotov and smoke/shank combo. it just seems that a little fire shouldn't instantly down and kill a guy when he can shrug off a point blank shotgun shell. none of the weapons feel powerful enough for what the are in comparison to some of the craftable items that are obtained from random boxes. it gives me the feeling that no mater how much time and care i spend on sneaking up on this guy it is rendered pointless because he happened to randomly get the shit to make a specific item. the actual balance of the game seems to be rather artificial. if you're losing, it just gives you more items. the multiplayer as a whole just makes me feel angry. all the time when im playing it. like i have no control. and that is what really kills any longevity games like this have with me.

Last time I played I do indeed remember thinking the molotov was always a bitch. But attempting to use one yourself will prove that it can be difficult to use, especially in the heat of a firefight. While it does suck to get caught by one out of nowhere, I don't think it's especially unbalanced. Smoke grenades are the same way, and unlike molotovs they at least give you a second to hopefully escape out of its radius.

After completing a three Journeys (that's around 250 games) I would not say those are imbalanced at all. Yes, they take time to master (and learn how to evade if used against you), you need to be awere of the situation. If you don't see the molotov or the bomb coming, you are fucked, but if you pay attention you can sidestep both. Also as you said yourself in the original post, the item distribution is randomized only to a certain degree and it is used to balance the teams, so if you are losing you get more mats or even whole items (bombs, molotovs...), which is just another thing you need to account for. If you wipe 3 enemies in a round of Survivors, chances are the last guy has at least 2 bombs or molotovs, so you need to approach him accordingly and use the advantage you have - teammates. Stuff like that.

The only thing I don't like is head to head fist fight melee and to a lesser extent the margin of error on using shivs from behind.

The melee thing I've given up on; If I initiate a hand to hand fight with a guy, we are both at full health, both have the same armor, and I get the initial swing, he will always ALWAYS knock me out, unless someone else shows up to help out. I don't get it, I do my 3 hit combo, and then they are able to do theirs and then my guy is constantly stunned after that letting them perform more. I even have a hand to hand perk on too! I've stopped trying to melee.

Yeah, molotovs are pretty powerful to the point that some hardcore tournaments outright ban their usage.

That said, public lobbies filled with players of average skill don't necessarily unbalance the game. If you're getting constantly killed by molotovs and the smoke/shiv combo, you're probably getting caught unawares all the time, or you engage in combat at the most inopportune times.

You need to pay more attention to what's going on around you to not get blindsided, or to be able to assess when it's the right time to start shooting. Most of that usually comes with experience, something you might not get enough of if you quit the multiplayer soon.

I guess the best advice I could give you is to play with friends who you can coordinate with. There's plenty of people on here who've shared their PSN IDs, so give that a shot. It's infinitely more enjoyable playing in a real party than with randoms.